**Official Epox 8K5A Series (KT333) Thread** (Files, Reviews, and Info Inside!)

[RideFree]

Live,
OK, let's take the tough ones first.

my sytem info shows a lot of conflicts:

I/O Port 0x00000000-0x00000CF7 PCI bus
I/O Port 0x00000000-0x00000CF7 Direct memory access controller

I/O Port 0x000003C0-0x000003DF VIA CPU to AGP Controller
I/O Port 0x000003C0-0x000003DF NVIDIA GeForce3 Ti 200

IRQ 10 VIA Rev 5 or later USB Universal Host Controller
IRQ 10 Multimedia Audio Controller

IRQ 11 NVIDIA GeForce3 Ti 200
IRQ 11 VIA Rev 5 or later USB Universal Host Controller
IRQ 11 VIA Rev 5 or later USB Universal Host Controller
IRQ 11 VIA Compatable Fast Ethernet Adapter

Memory Address 0xD8000000-0xDFFFFFFF VIA CPU to AGP Controller
Memory Address 0xD8000000-0xDFFFFFFF NVIDIA GeForce3 Ti 200

Memory Address 0xE0000000-0xE1FFFFFF VIA CPU to AGP Controller
Memory Address 0xE0000000-0xE1FFFFFF NVIDIA GeForce3 Ti 200

Memory Address 0xA0000-0xBFFFF PCI bus
Memory Address 0xA0000-0xBFFFF VIA CPU to AGP Controller
Memory Address 0xA0000-0xBFFFF NVIDIA GeForce3 Ti 200

I/O Port 0x000003B0-0x000003BB VIA CPU to AGP Controller
I/O Port 0x000003B0-0x000003BB NVIDIA GeForce3 Ti 200
And I am hoping to get rid of some.[/quote]

All you are picking up on is a very detailed WinXP report and nothing to be concerned about.

Where you want to look is in the Devices by Type section of the Hardware area and be concerned if there are any yellow exclamation marks or question marks. If there are none and everything works, you got it right.

XP does lots of sharing and pretty much gets high marks for getting it right. But, it also "shares" conventionally. i.e. D8000000 thru DFFFFFFF has been the "defacto" memory area for the video since about the introduction of the 32bit PCI bus.
Similarily, IRQ11 had been reserved for video but is shared among compliant busmaster PCI boards, as are many of the other IRQs.
For example, IRQ6 is mostly still dedicated to the floppy, although it is no longer necessary to do so as long as an "advanced" OS is installed.
IRQ13 is dedicated to the FPU and may not be shared.
And even though we are now freed from the IBM tyranny of IRQ12 being locked to the PS2 mouse, slowly, movement is noted at these levels as USB can take over the mouse and keyboard functions.
and so on...

You may disable nearly anything you want in the BIOS...hit Del key at the proper time in the POST sequence and go to Advanced Chipset Features. From there you may find the BIOS settings that you are looking for.
PS I hope you installed the driver(s) from the EPoX disk right after you got XP running on your machine.

Also, I recommend installing the XP SP-2.


OK, some of you may wish to give argumentative discourse, but that's why they build Ford & Chevrolet.

 

[Ruroni]

Got my new motherboard in today. I guess it wasn't the motherboard because the problem continues. I'm getting blue screen of death. The first one said nothing, the 2nd one said "Teh problem seems to be caused by the following file: setupdd.sys"

"PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA"

*** setupdd.sys - Address F77B9EDD base at F779B000, Datestamp 3b7d8507

(remember at this point still haven't installed windows, yet).

 

[RideFree]

Ruroni,
1. Are you sure that you have a "legal" cc of XP?
2. Are you trying to install on an overclocked system?
3. Did you set the jumper to 133Mhz?:frown:

 

[RideFree]

Ruroni,
BSOD is a Windows phenomenon.

I'm getting blue screen of death...remember, I haven't installed Windows yet.

 

[Ruroni]

Originally posted by: RideFree
Ruroni, 1. Are you sure that you have a "legal" cc of XP?

Even if it weren't legal, that shouldn't make a difference.

Originally posted by: RideFree
2. Are you trying to install on an overclocked system?

No, I've tried everything I can think of; from disabling and lowering settings to using optimazed settings and everything in between. But no actuall overclocking.

Originally posted by: RideFree
3. Did you set the jumper to 133Mhz?:frown:

Yes and No.

 

[Ruroni]

I've noticed that my keyboard's number lock LED stays on, even when the machine is powered down. Does this mean anything?

 

[AMDBOY]

bupkus, I know I replied Sunday night to you, I must have hacked it,sorry. Originally quoted by bupkus

If in the bios I set "warning if temp goes over 63 degrees C", and "shutdown if over 70 degrees C" might I not get warnings before shutdown in W98? I'm using a Volcano 9 in an Antec box & Antec True Power 330W with lots of fans without OCing a 1600+ AGIO.

"These problems consist of 1) spontaneous shutdowns
2) blue screen"
"I now have dual boot w/ W98 & XP pro. So far no spontaneous reboots in XP, but I did clear the "shutdown on overheat" in bios." Try the same bios(temp shutdown) settings for Win98. See if it still hacks. You are not O/Cing so your temps should be average in range. If it still hacks, perhaps others here have experienced similar. Sounds like something software not playing nice. Possible driver corruption? Your Antec PS should be more than adequate. I will look for similar in forums.

 

[Live]

Originally posted by: Ruroni

Originally posted by: RideFree
Ruroni, 1. Are you sure that you have a "legal" cc of XP?

Even if it weren't legal, that shouldn't make a difference.

Well yes it can. Many of the warez versions running around the internet have problems. Some work some don?t. Some work for some, some don?t work for some but work for others.

If you haven?t already, try a different version or get a hold of a legit copy.

 

[Live]

Originally posted by: RideFree
You may disable nearly anything you want in the BIOS...hit Del key at the proper time in the POST sequence and go to Advanced Chipset Features. From there you may find the BIOS settings that you are looking for.
PS I hope you installed the driver(s) from the EPoX disk right after you got XP running on your machine.

Thanks for your reply. As always tough there is a but

In BIOS under "Advanced Chipset Features" there are 3 options:

DRAM clock / drive control
AGP & P2P Bridge control
CPU & PCI Bus control

None of which controls my com and printer ports as far as I can tell.

Under "Integrated Peripherals" and sub menu "SuperIO Devices" I have found these two options:

Onboard Serial Port 1/2
Which I am guessing might be the com ports or one of the PS/2 port I use for my keyboard. Which I don?t want to disable

Onboard Parallel Port
Is this the printer port?

I did not use the disk supplied with epox. I used the links supplied by Insane3D at the beginning of this thread. Wrong move? Other then that I followed the steps outlined also by Insane3D for install.

 

[RideFree]

Under "Integrated Peripherals" and sub menu "SuperIO Devices" I have found these two options:

Yes, Super IO Devices is where you will find the settings to disable the Parallel Port (printer) and the two COM ports, Serial 1 & 2.

I have an excuse! I was going from memory and could not remember the additional layers in the menu

 

[RideFree]

Live,

I did not use the disk supplied with epox. I used the links supplied by Insane3D at the beginning of this thread. Wrong move? Other then that I followed the steps outlined also by Insane3D for install.

While I have not noticed either of these (sorry Insane) I would bet that they are about 1000% accurate.:Q

 

[alpha88]

2 questions,

First, will this motherboard support athlons at 333fsb when they are released, or does this chipset only support 333 memory, not 333 fsb.

Secondly, how much will i be limiting myself by using my old 133 ddr ram?

 

[russr]

Ruroni, I saw your latest posts and I am indeed sorry that the replacement motherboard did not solve any of your problems. Believe it or not, that is progress to find that out.

Here's what I reommend doing now:
Make a list of every component that you've swapped. For example, we've tried two motherboards, two hard drives, two different sticks of ram, etc.

We need to see what you haven't tried another of and isolate the problem in that way.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but you haven't tried another cpu, psu or case correct?

Anyway, once I get a list of things that haven't been swapped, I can make further suggestions.

 

[russr]

alpha88, your first question has been asked here before and is on the epox website. Whenever possible read or search the threads or website before asking your question. If everyone did that, this thread wouldn't be 8 pages now.

Your second question....you mean ddr 266, there's no ddr 133. Using ddr266 with the epox motherboard is possible, but for a few dollars more you can get yourself a stick of pc2700 (ddr333) and run it at 333mhz. It's worth it in my opinion. One thing worth mentioning however, unless your current cpu can take 166mhz fsb, you'll need to unlock the mutliplier to run your fsb at 166mhz. You can still run ur fsb at 133mhz even if you have ddr333...the ram will run at the faster speed. However if u want to run both at 333mhz (166fsb), u'll need to unlock ur cpu or hope it can take it.

 

[alpha88]

sorry, I looked through the first few pages and didn't see anything, and the website said 266 Max FSB, but I wasn't sure if they didn't say 333 because its not released yet.
I still don't quite know the answer, because I haven't seen a 1/6 divider mentioned anywhere. (to get PCI bus at 33)

I currently have ddr2100 (266) ram that is happily running in my ecs k7s5a, I'm just wondering if its worth getting new ram to run it at 333.

 

[Insane3D]

Originally posted by: alpha88
sorry, I looked through the first few pages and didn't see anything, and the website said 266 Max FSB, but I wasn't sure if they didn't say 333 because its not released yet.
I still don't quite know the answer, because I haven't seen a 1/6 divider mentioned anywhere. (to get PCI bus at 33)

I currently have ddr2100 (266) ram that is happily running in my ecs k7s5a, I'm just wondering if its worth getting new ram to run it at 333.

The 1/6 divisor is for a 400mhz FSB (200 / 6 = 33). You are thinking of the 1/5 divider, which the board has (166 / 5 = 33). When you run 166mhz FSB (333mhz DDR) the PCI and AGP run the correct 33mhz and 66mhz respectively.

 

[russr]

The 8k5a series boards all have 1/5 pci divisors. This means that you can run the board at 166mhz fsb w/o overclocking pci and agp. It also means that it will support 333mhz fsb for CPUs such as the new Athlon Thoroughbreds coming out. Even the older 8k3a boards had this 1/5 pci divisor enabling 333mhz fsb support.

 

[magomago]

I just got one for my bro's PC that i made.


I'll put up my review of the 8k5a2+ once he lets me install an OS (windoze 2000) on his "precious pc"

 

[Ruroni]

In my efforts to trouble shoot I have replaced the following ingredients
Cases
*Kingwin KT-436
3DCOOL Tornado 3000.
DISK's/OS'es
*windows XP pro
Windows 2K Adv. Serv.
Windows 98
(ALL of which I have SUCCESSFULLY used previously)
Motherboards
*Epox 8K5A2+
Iwill KD266 (Wouldn't even boot. Ali Magic Chipset)
Abit KT7 Raid (Wouldn't even boot either. NOT KT7A)
RAM
*Corsair DDR3500 CMX512-3500C2,
PNY PC2100 DDR chip
HDD
*60 Gig Maxtor 7200 RPM D740X-6L
*60 Gig Maxtor 7200 RPM D740X-6L (another one of the same, intended for RAID 0)
20 Gig Western Digital
Processors
Athlon XP 2200+ (Throughbred) OEM
*Athlon XP 2200+ RETAIL BOX
After changing the processor, I managed to get to the part where Windows asks me if I want to Install or Repair. I got a BSOD that read:

***Hardware Malfunction

Call your hardware vendor for support

***The System has halted***

I then tried bumping up the Voltage of the Processor to 1.850 and increased the DIMM voltage by .50V; but nothing changed I got same exact error message.
Power Supplies
*431 Watt Enermax Whisper EG465P-VE (FC)
3DCOOL ATX 300 watt (Came with the Tornado case)
CompUSA 300 Watt ATX power supply
Video Cards
*MSI TI 4600
Creative Labs Annihilator Geforce 2 MX
CD Drives
*Aopen DVDROM
*PleXwritter 8/4/32a
Keyboard
Logitech Deluxe 104
*No-Name Keyboard
* denotes the particular piece of hardware I would prefer using.
I am all out of ideas. (Could I have gotten yet another foiled MoBo?)

 

[Ruroni]

In light of my current situation, I am prepared to get a different motherboard.

Suggestions any one? I am contemplating going with an MSI KT3 Ultra 2.

 

[Insane3D]

In light of my current situation, I am prepared to get a different motherboard.

I don't think the motherboard is your problem...

Iwill KD266 (Wouldn't even boot. Ali Magic Chipset)
Abit KT7 Raid (Wouldn't even boot either. NOT KT7A)

If two other board wouldn't even boot, I doubt getting a yet another one would make the situation any better. I'm thinking it may be a CPU problem..


If you decide to do it anyway, the MSI KT3 Ultra2 is a decent board...

 

[russr]

*Athlon XP 2200+ RETAIL BOX (Haven't tried this one just yet...)

So the cpu is the only thing you haven't tried two of yet? I really think you are wasting your time getting yet another motherboard...you've tried three already what makes you think another one will solve the problem?

Things seem to indicate the CPU to be the problem.

Have you tried a different heatsink? Maybe you are not installing the processor properly...I would be interested in seeing if the retail processor makes a difference.

Also when you are installing WindowsXP, choose the option to install from scratch where you format the drive and all....don't use that repair option.

 

[Ruroni]

At the point I posted the NEW RETAIL CPU message, I had already tried it. I don't know why I put that I hadn't yet tried it, there in parenthesis.

The BSOD error message I saw windows XP setup display was revealed to me when using the NEW Retail CPU. (It never showed up with the old/OEM CPU)

I thought that the Abit KT7 Raid & the Iwill KD266 wouldn't boot because they are too old. Both of them use PC133 SDRAM (They don't even support DDR, so I thought maybe an XP 2200+ processor would not be compatible with these MoBo's.)

Considering the last BSOD message I got,

***Hardware Malfunction

Call your hardware vendor for support

***The System has halted***

I imagine something has to be deffective.

With no support from the MoBo manufacturer (Except for their irrelevant generic email reply), and the apparent abundance of faulty devices I don't know what else to do except try a new (different) motherboard.

 

[Technonut]

I thought that the Abit KT7 Raid & the Iwill KD266 wouldn't boot because they are too old. Both of them use PC133 SDRAM (They don't even support DDR, so I thought maybe an XP 2200+ processor would not be compatible with these MoBo's.)

You are correct in your thinking. The 2200+ is not compatible with either board AFAIK.

 

[Live]

Hi again!

After reading trough the whole thread again (phu!) I found some questions that remains to be answered.

1. What does that IDE performance thing that comes on the cd do?
Has anyone found any benefit of running this? How would you set up a test scheme to look for any performance gain with this little app?

2. CPU Temperature readings
This is not so much of a question as it is a problem.

As we all know by now this line of motherboards does not show the temp from the CPU internal diode. But we know it can be done since the overheating protection system uses it. So the diode temp is available to the BIOS and not to us mere mortals. What we can hope for here is:

1. A revised bios is released that lets us see the correct temp reading. Be it a official one or not.

To increase the chances of this I suggest we all follow this advice:

Originally posted by: MrEMan
I would ask that all readers of this forum contact EPoX USA via their support page and make it known that you would prefer that they display both thermo sensor temperatures on the BIOS screen, or at the very least, give the option to choose the temperature you want displayed.
The contact page is at http://www.epox.com/html/motherboard-contact.asp?lang=1 .

2. We get some kind of idea of how much difference there is between the current temp reading and the diode reading.

I have myself started this process and I hope some of you will help me out.

I started by getting the C/W reading for my heatsink @ overclockers.com Air Cooling DIE Simulator C/W TEST RESULTS
These results are fan dependent but they were the best I could find.

Then I needed the watt output of my CPU, which I got from this list:

Watts Die size
XP 1500+ 1333 MHz 1,75 V Palomino 60 W 128 mm²
XP 1600+ 1400 MHz 1,75 V Palomino 63 W 128 mm²
XP 1700+ 1467 MHz 1,75 V Palomino 64 W 128 mm²
XP 1700+ 1467 MHz 1,50 V Thoroughbred-A 49 W 80 mm²
XP 1800+ 1533 MHz 1,75 V Palomino 66 W 128 mm²
XP 1800+ 1533 MHz 1,50 V Thoroughbred-A 51 W 80 mm²
XP 1900+ 1600 MHz 1,75 V Palomino 68 W 128 mm²
XP 1900+ 1600 MHz 1,50 V Thoroughbred-A 53 W 80 mm²
XP 2000+ 1667 MHz 1,75 V Palomino 70 W 128 mm²
XP 2000+ 1667 MHz 1,60/1,65 V Thoroughbred-A 60/62 W 80 mm²
XP 2000+ 1667 MHz 1,60 V Thoroughbred-B 61 W 84 mm²
XP 2100+ 1733 MHz 1,75 V Palomino 72 W 128 mm²
XP 2100+ 1733 MHz 1,60 V Thoroughbred-A 62 W 80 mm²
XP 2200+ 1800 MHz 1,65 V Thoroughbred-A 63 W 80 mm²
XP 2200+ 1800 MHz 1,60 V Thoroughbred-B 68 W 84 mm²
XP 2400+ 2000 MHz 1,60/1,65 V Thoroughbred-B 65/68 W 84 mm²
XP 2600+ 2133 MHz 1,65 V Thoroughbred-B 68 W 84 mm²
XP 2700+ 2167 MHz 1,65 V Thoroughbred-B 68 W 84 mm²
XP 2800+ 2250 MHz 1,65 V Thoroughbred-B 74 W 84 mm²

And finally my system temp as a reading of the temp my HSF uses to cool the core. This can be found with the USDM supplied by epox (Link at first post in this thread) in BIOS or at post.

This gave me for my SLK-800 and 1900+ palomino 0,23 C/W, 68 watts and 28 sys temp.

"To calculate what to expect for other CPUs, for every watt the CPU radiates, the heatsink will cool the core by the (C/W x watts) plus ambient temp. For example, at a fan inlet temp of 25 C, a C/W of 0.25 with a CPU radiating 50 watts means that the CPU temp will be 50 x 0.25 = 12.5 C over ambient temp, or 37.5 C. "

This would indicate a internal diode temp of 43,64 for me. The reading I get from Epox is 33 so a difference of +10 Celsius is my conclusion. This is calculations with CPU idle. As soon as I get the chance I will make a calculation for CPU at full load.

Of course the watts from my CPU will increase if I overclock. (I don?t know how to calculate this but if you do, send a PM or post and I will include it)

So what do you get?